Former Metropolitan police assistant commissioner John Yates resisted an attempt to examine his phone records over allegations he was leaking information from the cash for honours investigation, saying he was "very well connected", the Leveson inquiry has heard.

Bob Quick, then chief constable of Surrey, said he was called in to review the cash for honours criminal investigation led by Yates. He gave it a clean bill of health but in January 2007 Quick was called in again after Britain's top civil servant, Gus O'Donnell, complained that the police were leaking details to the media.

O'Donnell specifically named Yates as the source of the leaks from the investigation, which menaced the then Labour government.

Quick alleges that the then Met deputy commissioner, Sir Paul Stephenson, did not implement his recommendation that the phone records of Yates, who was leading the inquiry, should be examined for evidence that he was leaking against the Labour government or evidence ruling him out.

Quick alleges he clashed with Yates over his suggestion. As he resisted the suggestion, Yates told him: "No Bob, I am very well connected." Quick told Leveson his review found no evidence implicating Yates as the leaker.

In 2000, Quick, then part of Scotland Yard's anti-corruption command, wanted to investigate newspapers after a covert operation revealed corrupt payments to police officers for information.

Quick added that in 2000 it struck him as possible that newspaper organisations were aware of the reasons for the payments and were themselves complicit in making corrupt payments to police officers.

His report was submitted to his then boss, Andy Hayman, but no action was taken, the inquiry heard.

Quick said that in 2000 it was clear tabloid journalists, most likely with their bosses' blessing, were bribing officers: "There were considerable grounds to believe that journalists from tabloid newspapers were corruptors."